Dy3+-doped selenide chalcogenide glasses: influence of Dy3+ dopant-aditive and containment

This work reports on process‐induced impurities in rare‐earth ion: Dy3+‐doped selenide chalcogenide glasses, which are significant materials for active photonic devices in the mid‐infrared region. In particular, the effect of contamination from the silica glass ampoule containment used in chalcogenide glass synthesis is studied. Heat‐treating Dy‐foil‐only, and DyCl3‐only, separately, within evacuated silica glass ampoules gives direct evidence of silica ampoule corrosion by the rare‐earth additives. The presence of [Ga2Se3] associated with [Dy] on the silica glass ampoule that has been contact with the chalcogenide glass during glass melting, is reported for the first time. Studies of 0–3000 ppmw Dy3+‐doped Ge16.5As9Ga10Se64.5 glasses show that Dy‐foil is better than DyCl3 as the Dy3+ additive in Ge‐As‐Ga‐Se glass in aspects of avoiding bulk crystallization, improving glass surface quality and lowering optical loss. However, some limited Dy/Si/O related contamination is observed on the surfaces of Dy‐foil‐doped chalcogenide glasses, as found for DyCl3‐doped chalcogenide glasses, reported in our previous work. The surface contamination indicates the production of Dy2O3 and/or [≡Si‐O‐Dy=]‐containing particles during chalcogenide glass melting, which are potential light‐scattering centers in chalcogenide bulk glass and heterogeneous nucleation agents for α‐Ga2Se3 crystals